[To all aero bikes owners] Does your seatpost/frame creak?

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lovemyway
Posts: 216
Joined: Sun Jul 24, 2016 7:32 am

by lovemyway

Hello,

I'm the owner of disc Venge ViAS. Some time ago I've noticed that my seatpost creaks horrendously when I'm pedalling in the saddle. It was pretty harmless at first, single noises when I was riding on some bumpy roads. However, with time the frequency increased a lot and the noise level as well (to the point I was super ashamed that I've spent so much money on the bike that is so noisy).

I took the ViAS to LBS and it appeared that you could even hear the creaks when you put your weight on one pedal and move the seatpost back and forth. I wanted to leave the bike for the maintenance anyway so that's what I did. The guys took my whole bike apart, cleaned and greased everything again. The seatpost problem didn't disappear. I'm not sure if it was any more quieter.

I told them I'm not satisfied and I want to issue a warranty claim on the frame itself. The Specialized rep said that we should try to take a different seatpost (from a different Venge) - so we did. I did around 50kms from that moment and while I can't hear anything when I'm on super smooth road (most of the time, I hear a creak every 1 minute even then), the creaks are still present when riding uphill or on bumpy roads (with a lot less frequency but still).

Am I paranoid? Do the aero bikes just work like that? I don't know if I should continue with the warranty thing or should I just give up...

This whole thing might be caused by the fact that I'm super tall, my seatpost is only 2cm lower in the frame that minimum insertion mark and I weigh 90kgs, but on the other hand I meet all of the criteria listed on the specialized website to "ride that bike"

:noidea: :noidea: :noidea: :noidea:

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TobinHatesYou
Posts: 12456
Joined: Mon Jul 24, 2017 12:02 pm

by TobinHatesYou

It's not uncommon with non-round seatposts. Even the D-shaped posts are a little susceptible to creaking as the clamping force is not even around the circumference of the post. Have you tried going a tiny bit above max torque spec for the clamp?

Shrike
Posts: 2019
Joined: Fri Jun 03, 2016 5:08 pm

by Shrike

Mine stopped creaking after I cracked it. Been quiet since. Doesn't slip anymore either! :)

lovemyway
Posts: 216
Joined: Sun Jul 24, 2016 7:32 am

by lovemyway

TobinHatesYou wrote:
Fri Jun 22, 2018 8:15 am
It's not uncommon with non-round seatposts. Even the D-shaped posts are a little susceptible to creaking as the clamping force is not even around the circumference of the post. Have you tried going a tiny bit above max torque spec for the clamp?
I'm personally too afraid to apply more torque than specified (in case it breaks), but the guy from LBS did clamp it with a bit more torque to see if it helps.
Shrike wrote:
Fri Jun 22, 2018 10:23 am
Mine stopped creaking after I cracked it. Been quiet since. Doesn't slip anymore either! :)
Did your frame crack or was it the seatpost? Have you replaced either? Did it help?

Shrike
Posts: 2019
Joined: Fri Jun 03, 2016 5:08 pm

by Shrike

lovemyway wrote:
Fri Jun 22, 2018 10:55 am
TobinHatesYou wrote:
Fri Jun 22, 2018 8:15 am
It's not uncommon with non-round seatposts. Even the D-shaped posts are a little susceptible to creaking as the clamping force is not even around the circumference of the post. Have you tried going a tiny bit above max torque spec for the clamp?
I'm personally too afraid to apply more torque than specified (in case it breaks), but the guy from LBS did clamp it with a bit more torque to see if it helps.
Shrike wrote:
Fri Jun 22, 2018 10:23 am
Mine stopped creaking after I cracked it. Been quiet since. Doesn't slip anymore either! :)
Did your frame crack or was it the seatpost? Have you replaced either? Did it help?
Seatpost cracked, overtorqued it. Was considering replacing the seat post but it's been so well behaved since that I'll keep it until/if it packs in.

Took a lot for it to crack though. It was +5nm over the recommendation.

TobinHatesYou
Posts: 12456
Joined: Mon Jul 24, 2017 12:02 pm

by TobinHatesYou

I...That’s a lot of torques...

Shrike
Posts: 2019
Joined: Fri Jun 03, 2016 5:08 pm

by Shrike

Yeah, I mean you hear of guys cracking their posts going over by 0.5 and 1nm. Even if not going over the rec they still crack carbon posts, maybe due to poorly calibrated wrenches. I was riding harsh roads all the way to 10, 11, 12nm and even then it took a while to cave in.

Surprisingly tough, kudos to it. Doesn't seem to be degrading either, but anyway, don't want to hijack the thread with my seatpost tales :D

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kgt
Posts: 8749
Joined: Sun Jun 18, 2006 10:29 am
Location: Athens, Greece

by kgt

Mine (Time skylon) is silent and the roads here are not great.

pyrahna
Posts: 150
Joined: Wed Aug 14, 2013 9:53 pm

by pyrahna

The good news is creaks are not inevitable with aero posts. I have 2 allez sprints that have the same seatpost as your venge and neither has any creaks. I ride with a several other people w/ allez sprints and their bikes are silent as well, and one of them had to order an extra long seatpost for his 61 cm frame (side note, I'm short and when I'm in the drops I can see the road ahead of us through his legs). This is an apples and oranges comparison. The Allez Sprint uses the same seatpost as the VIAS, but the Allez uses two bolts at the rear of the post to clamp it where as the VIAS has an integrated wedge at the front. The VIAS is a carbon frame and the Allez is aluminum. The bad news is creaks happen, and with the big cross sections in modern carbon and aluminum bikes the noise of the creaks travel and get amplified making them more annoying and harder to track down. Common places for creaks are saddle rail - seatpost clamp interface, seat clamp - seat post interface, seat post - frame interface, bottom bracket bearings - frame interface, crank bolt (i.e. the bolt that connects the two sides of the crank), chain ring bolts. The only way to figure out which one it is is to pick an area, take it apart, clean it thoughly (degreaser) and apply the approriate carbon paste or lube to the interface, go ride it and see if it is fixed. Rinse and repeat. p.s. when you pull the B.B. bearings you should press them back in with a grease on them between the bearing and the frame, when you place the cranks in the B.B. you should make sure there is a heavy grease on the spindle of the crank. Keeping the bike clean and well greased is the single biggest preventor of creaks. I apologize if this sounds preachy or obvious, but the path to silence is a bunch of small but obvious steps that take a little time to do correctly.

Nefarious86
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by Nefarious86

Carbogrip.

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